My Hero Academia’s perfect replacement, which is currently airing, begins an important flashback that should have been incorporated in the original series, and its absence is a glaring oversight. Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia is molded with the best aspects of the shonen genre, solidifying itself as one of the best shonen series under the Shonen Jump banner. Since it follows the Shonen Jump formula, incorporating flashbacks is essential to its storytelling, as they drive emotional development, character growth, and the resolution of relationships and personal barriers.
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The series has often done this with multiple characters and has delivered many epic moments. That said, there is one story fans have always wanted to see in full, but the original series never properly explored it, instead relying on vague context. This led to a development that lacked the impact it could have had if the narrative had been fully depicted. Now, however, the My Hero Academia spinoff Vigilantes has surprisingly dived into it. Vigilantes fully explores Aizawa’s school days, unveiling details about him and the trio, including Kurogiri, a significant villain in the original series. If anything, this proves that the original series should have included this narrative.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Unveils the Crucial Backstory of Its Best Side Character
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2 Episode 6, titled “Rains and Clouds,” continues to feature Aizawa as one of the central characters in the vigilantes’ narrative, making him a perfect choice for this focus. Surprisingly, after a brief encounter with Koichi, where the latter saves a cat, the episode dives into Aizawa’s days as a hero student. This backstory isn’t limited to Aizawa alone, as it also features the future hero Present Mic and the future villain Kurogiri, Oboro Shirakumo, when he was still part of the trio and the most cheerful among them.
This makes it clear that Vigilantes intends to fully depict the trio’s journey during their school years, something the original series only hinted at. Moreover, this flashback also incorporates Nemuri Kayama, the future hero Midnight, who plays a significant role in the narrative, appearing in a battle where she loses her life. The interactions between these characters add emotional nuance and make them feel more lovable, highlighting how the original series missed an opportunity to unveil this story.
Had the original series incorporated this narrative, the emotional weight of Midnight’s death and the interactions between Aizawa and Kurogiri during the final war would have been further elevated, giving viewers a closer look at the emotional elements the series was trying to portray. As such, it feels like an oversight that the original never included it. That said, fans of Aizawa can finally see his backstory unfold in Vigilantes instead of never seeing it at all, reinforcing it as the best replacement in the absence of the original My Hero Academia, as it also serves as a platform to cover the nuances the original never explored.
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